A Microsoft study once more tries to prove that a company is clearly better off with Windows as its platform. Our colleagues at the Australian iTWire Magazine have reported back with an analysis to dispute that claim.

What first appears a success story really isn't. There were no real savings involved. Microsoft's study claimed that tool and equipment rental firm Speedy Hire can save 200,000 British pounds per year over five years by switching their systems from Linux to Windows and Microsoft Office.

The iTWire.com article first of all challenged the argument that Windows-based thin clients offered significant hardware cost savings over Linux-based ones. As the article says, "A thin client for Windows might be cheaper than a full-blown desktop PC, but Wyse bills the V50 as the Linux equivalent of the V90, and it is cheaper." Other areas challenged included support costs, software updates and patches, applications, authentication and performance. As the article progressed, the pounds kept dropping off. We wonder what will be left of the one million in five years.

The Dutch software dealer HW Trading has proffered a complaint concerning Microsoft's marketing practices to the European Trade Commission. The reason: Microsoft has for years been selling its products at a higher price in Europe than it does in America.

Yahoo and Microsoft yesterday announced plans of a joint venture to challenge the search engine giant Google. The plans include Yahoo search running on Microsoft's "Bing" technology. In return, Yahoo will handle service support for both companies' premium customers.